Comment Re:Actually do something and I'll be impressed (Score 1) 548
Most also seem to accept the other invasions into our lives an property.
All forms of "direct" marketing are violations of the recipients space. They all involve use of the recipients property in some manner, and all put some type of burden (even though it may be small) on the recipient.
Snail mail: This is effectively littering. The recipient is now responsible for the disposal of this junk mail. Now imagine the cost associated with dumping fees and the environmental impact on landfills. A cost which indirectly shows up on your trash pickup bills.
Telemarketing/Fax: A total stranger activating a device (telephone or fax machine) which doesn't belong to him.
E-mail Spam: The cost burden is almost totally on the recipient. We tend to look at the costs based on the typical dialup user paying $20/mo. What about two-way pagers and PDA's with those expensive wireless connections? What about the laptop connected to the satellite phone on an airplane at $10/min? What about the guy that loses a big business deal because that important e-mail just bounced due to a full mailbox? The economic impact is very high.
People are being ripped off constantly by these types of commercial terrorism. You can steal $1,000.000 from one person and you'll quicly get noticed by law enforcement, but if you steal $0.01 from 100,000,000 nobody notices. Either way, you're still a thief.
The real enemies are those who try an legitimize these types of theft, such as the DMA.
All forms of "direct" marketing are violations of the recipients space. They all involve use of the recipients property in some manner, and all put some type of burden (even though it may be small) on the recipient.
Snail mail: This is effectively littering. The recipient is now responsible for the disposal of this junk mail. Now imagine the cost associated with dumping fees and the environmental impact on landfills. A cost which indirectly shows up on your trash pickup bills.
Telemarketing/Fax: A total stranger activating a device (telephone or fax machine) which doesn't belong to him.
E-mail Spam: The cost burden is almost totally on the recipient. We tend to look at the costs based on the typical dialup user paying $20/mo. What about two-way pagers and PDA's with those expensive wireless connections? What about the laptop connected to the satellite phone on an airplane at $10/min? What about the guy that loses a big business deal because that important e-mail just bounced due to a full mailbox? The economic impact is very high.
People are being ripped off constantly by these types of commercial terrorism. You can steal $1,000.000 from one person and you'll quicly get noticed by law enforcement, but if you steal $0.01 from 100,000,000 nobody notices. Either way, you're still a thief.
The real enemies are those who try an legitimize these types of theft, such as the DMA.
